Month: December 2025

In architecture, most practices revolve around delivering projects to clients. Offices are shaped by deadlines, budgets, and clear briefs. While this structure produces buildings, it rarely leaves space for architects to question broader issues — about how we live, how cities are changing, or what the future demands of design. But alongside this production-focused system, a quieter movement has emerged: studios, collectives, and foundations that prioritize research, experimentation, and reflection. These are the architecture think tanks — spaces designed not to build immediately, but to think first.

architect jun aoki designs a third louis vuitton flagship, this time in beijing, bringing a sculptural glass facade design to sanlitun.

The post louis vuitton sanlitun opens in beijing with a fluid glass facade by jun aoki appeared first on designboom | architecture & design magazine.

Facade installation has commenced at the construction site of OPPO’s new headquarters campus in Shenzhen‘s Greater Bay Area, indicating visible progress on the project designed by Zaha Hadid Architects. Planned as a consolidated workplace for a China-based technology company, OPPO, the campus is situated within a rapidly developing urban context. The headquarters is intended to accommodate the company‘s expanding workforce while integrating office functions with publicly accessible spaces. Current construction activity involves the assembly of the external envelope, which reflects the project’s established massing, tower configuration, and overall spatial organization.

Dezeen’s top five houses of the month for December include a multi-generational home in Vietnam and a minimalist house in Portugal with two recording studios. Also featured in our top houses of December are a courtyard house nestled into a sloped site, a prefabricated home raised above the forest floor, and a metal-framed residence designed to be

The post Dezeen’s top five houses of December 2025 appeared first on Dezeen.

Dezeen’s top five houses of the month for December include a multi-generational home in Vietnam and a minimalist house in Portugal with two recording studios. Also featured in our top houses of December are a courtyard house nestled into a sloped site, a prefabricated home raised above the forest floor, and a metal-framed residence designed to be

The post Dezeen’s top five houses of December 2025 appeared first on Dezeen.

In a tranquil residential street in the Munich district of Altschwabing, between the Münchner Freiheit and the englischer Garten, our client purchased a property with an atypical, lowrise 1920s building, with a view to developing a new apartment block. Even if the quarter and its demographics have changed significantly in recent decades, Schwabing still holds onto an artistic and free-thinking atmosphere. The quarter is vibrant with pubs, local and international eateries, cinemas, galleries, long-established theatres, day-care centers, and schools.

Across Europe and North America, pedestrianisation is increasingly being deployed as a context-specific urban strategy shaped by distinct economic, social, and spatial pressures. As cities continue to reassess the role of streets in the wake of economic shifts, climate pressures, and changing mobility patterns, pedestrianisation is emerging as a tool in current urban transformation efforts. Across London, New York, Houston, and Stockholm, ongoing pedestrian-first projects are testing different pathways toward more resilient and walkable cities, ranging from statutory planning and capital construction to research-driven visioning. London’s Oxford Street is advancing through consultation and governance reform to address retail decline; New York’s Paseo Park is moving from a temporary pandemic intervention into permanent infrastructure; Houston is accelerating the pedestrianisation of its downtown core in preparation for a global sporting event; and Stockholm’s Superline is using design research to rethink the future of an inner-city motorway. These initiatives reveal how pedestrianisation is being actively negotiated, designed, and built today, adapting to local motivations while converging on a shared objective of streets that perform as resilient public spaces rather than traffic conduits.

In contemporary architectural discourse, scale is often mistaken for influence. Large firms, landmark projects, and master-planned developments dominate visibility. It goes on to reinforce the idea that architectural ambition is measured by size, reach, or spectacle. Yet across India and similar contexts, a quieter but equally consequential body of work is emerging. It is led by small but mighty practices operating with limited resources, close client relationships, and an intimate understanding of local conditions.

On a plot of land with quintas and lush groves, located in Parque Leloir, a minimal-sized house was projected that would, in the short term, change its function. Thus, this refuge in the middle of the forest was conceived, which was initially designed as a rehearsal room for a music band, but the pandemic and the desire to live in a place with more garden turned it into a family home.